Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

How to Keep Blogging, Whatever the Weather

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Blogging-tree-sunshine-rainBlog writing is a skill like any other. You can learn how to do it, and the more you do it the better you’ll get. But only if you keep doing it.

If you don’t keep up with your blogging, it can turn your website into a ghost town that reflects badly on you and your business.

In today’s post, we’ll wrap up the Blogging Tree series with a look at some of the ways you can keep growing your blogging tree and welcome plenty of new clients to your orchard.

A strong blogging tree needs the right climate

Here in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, we enjoy four seasons every year. Not every day feels pleasant (though I do believe in the old adage that there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing), but each season gives us something of value – even if that’s just more appreciation for the season coming up!

Your blogging tree needs different weather elements in order to grow strong. In my last post, I explained how wind spreads the seeds of your blogging tree. It also needs rain and sunshine, and here’s why:

Rain – For your blogging tree, rain represents the ideas that you’ll turn into new content for your blog. Once you get yourself into the blogging mindset, you’ll see these ideas all around as you carry out your day-to-day work with clients, and even on your personal time.

Over time, you’ll hone the skill of creating blog posts out of frequently asked questions, client meetings and other things that you see and read – both online and in the real world. And if you’re already getting the hang of sharing other people’s content on social media, you’ll be relieved to discover that sharing certain types of content on your blog is just one step further.

Note: Be sure to set up a rain barrel – I call this an idea catcher, where you can capture those ideas when you get them. Carry a notepad (whether it’s in your pocket or on your smartphone), have a designated folder on your computer or simply store ideas as draft posts in your blogging program. When you constantly feed your idea catcher, you’ll never have to face a blank screen or empty page again.

Sunshine – Your blogging needs your time, energy and attention (sunshine) in order to flourish and continue to attract new clients to your business. Once you’ve decided to include blogging in your marketing mix, you need a plan for how that’s going to happen. As we discussed in another post in this series, the trunk of your blogging tree – your plan – must include:

If you’ve heard enough about the benefits of blogging, such as its power to:

  • Position you as a trusted expert
  • Educate your clients about how you can help them
  • Deliver more value to everyone you meet
  • Gain wider exposure to your website
  • Keep your website fresh

then be sure your blogging tree doesn’t dry up and wilt. Keep it growing strong by giving it the elements it needs to succeed.

You don’t have to do any of this yourself! There are plenty of resources on the Content Mastery Guide website and elsewhere on the web. You can also hand your blogging over to someone else who can make this all happen for you (hey, we do that!).

Linda Dessau, CPCC, is the author of Write Your Way to More Clients Online and the founder of ContentMasteryGuide.com. She offers ghostwriting, editing, training and consulting.

Top 10 Blog Post Idea Generators

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woman with ideaDuring the How to Write a Blog Post webinar, I mentioned how quotes, statistics and other powerful article openers can also be idea generators for your blog posts.

I’ve combined those here with some of my other favourite sources for blog post ideas. Happy writing!

  1. Images – Instead of just searching for an image after you’ve already started or finished your post, why not browse an image site and see what ideas it sparks?
  2. News – Elena Verlee wrote about how to turn news stories into ideas you can pitch to journalists – or write about in your blog. You can also check out my Write for the Headlines series of blog post ideas for coaches. If you prefer to focus on good news, this blog is for you.
  3. Google Alerts – This tool allows you to filter the news by signing up for email updates when anything new is posted about a particular topic. Subscribe to the topics you and your clients are most interested in. Whether you just pass it along or write your own review/response, make sure to put yourself into the content that you share.
  4. Google search – You can also just go to Google and begin typing different phrases about your topic ideas or blog categories. Google will automatically suggest phrases based on what other people have searched for. Check out what people want to know, what information is already out there AND what’s missing.
  5. Statistics – HubSpot and the Content Marketing Institute are great sources for statistics about social media and content marketing. Find the organizations or associations who are generating statistics about your industry, or browse Stats Can in Canada or the Census Bureau in the United States.
  6. Quotes – Type in a search term at a site like ThinkExist and see where it takes you.
  7. Social media updates – Identify the people whose updates tend to get you thinking. They may share quotes of their own, powerful coaching questions, thought-provoking ideas or links to their own blogs or others. Bookmark these profiles or set them up as a saved search.
  8. RSS subscriptions – Do the same thing with the bloggers you go back to time and again for ideas, quotes and resources. You can either sign up to receive their latest posts by email or set them up in a “Blog Ideas” folder in your feed reader.
  9. Your Inbox – Could your last email exchange be your next blog post? Take note of any requests you receive for advice and recommendations. You’ll help more people when you share your answers as a blog post.
  10. Question and answer forums – Browse Quora, LinkedIn Answers, LinkedIn groups or other discussion and research forums. Which questions can you answer? [Update January 19, 2013 – LinkedIn Answers will be discontinued at the end of January 2013.]
  11. BONUS: Live events – Get out and talk to people, both in and out of your target audience. You never know where you’ll find a unique perspective on your topic.

The next time you’re staring at a blank page and waiting for inspiration to strike, try your luck with one of these blog post idea generators.

Summertime and the Blogging is Easy

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Summer-fun-water-skiing-250w-167h As I’m settling into my first summer in the waterfront community of Barrie, Ontario, I’m noticing that my new neighbours sure take their recreation seriously! I only hope it rubs off on me. As local translator and copywriter Ashleigh Grange linked to on Twitter last week, summer vacation eludes many of us entrepreneurs.

Here are five ways to make blogging easier this summer, so you can keep building your business relationships (and your mountain of content) while still enjoing a vacation or staycation:

  1. Batch your tasks to make the most out of your time – When you’re feeling creative and buzzing with ideas, draft two or three posts instead of just one.
  2. Get ahead of the game – Pre-schedule your blog posts and emails so they continue to be on a predictable schedule, even if you’re not.
  3. Write easier posts – Ease off the pressure to be a thought leader and write the posts that come naturally to you, whether those are top 10 lists, product reviews, frequently asked questions, or connective content.
  4. Catch the sparks – Whenever you head out into the world, you’re bound to feel revitalized by the new people, places and ideas you encounter. Keep a notebook or smartphone app handy (I’m experimenting with Evernote for iPhone and Dragon Dictation for iPhone) so you can build on your experiences and share them with your readers.
  5. Make creative connections – What does staying up on water skis have in common with whatever your readers are striving for? What can packing for a vacation teach your clients about the techniques they need in their toolkit? What business lessons can you adapt from a popular vacation spot with long lines of happy customers?

So enjoy your summer, take some time off, and most of all keep blogging!

P.S. If you want to make your blogging even easier, check out my blogging services!

 

Weekly Blog Posts I’d Like to See From Plush Text Communications

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I was delighted to receive this blog post idea request from Ashleigh Grange, owner of Plush Text Communications – a writing and translation company specializing in multicultural communications. Though we haven't met in person yet, Asheligh was one of the first Barrie business owners I connected with as I was preparing to move here. Of course, we met on Twitter.

According to Ashleigh, her audience is "primarily local and national businesses competing internationally, selling products and services to other provincial, territorial or global markets. They use translation services to market their products and services to new and foreign audiences who don't necessarily speak English as a first language."

Her blogging goals are to keep their content relevant, valuable and in response to their target audience's concerns/pain points. She says she often struggles to keep her blog topics consistent with brand messaging.

I browsed the Plush Text blog, with posts dating back to June 2009 (quite different from the last submission!), and one of the first things I noticed was how varied her target audiences were.

Your groups and goals

Let's break down who these audience groups are, and the goals behind reaching out to them.

Some posts, like this one about translation specialties, are aimed at fellow translators. This content does an excellent job of positioning Ashleigh and her agency as industry experts – both to her colleagues and to potential clients.

Asheligh continues to claim her expertise with do-it-yourself tips for writing online content, such as this great post about creating multicultural websites.

(Categories: Tips for Translators, Writing Tips, Website Tips) 

Other posts on the site are designed to educate her target market about translation tools and services, such as this one about Google Translate or this one about how to choose a translation company.

(Categories: Hiring a Translator, Online Translators)

Language-dictionairies To address common issues that her customers face, Ashleigh and her team published some posts about doing business in other countries. Here's one about business etiquette in Mexico (I'd love to see a series here on a variety of countries), and another about business travel.

(Categories: International Business Etiquette, Business Travel)

Another way of positioning herself as an industry leader is to compile relevant news of interest to her target market. In a series of early posts (possibly worth revisiting), they browsed the headlines for stories related to writing and translation.

What I liked even more was how Asheligh used a national holiday as inspiration for this excellent post about workplace safety and how translators keep your employees safe.

(Category: Translation in the News)

Let's categorize your content

Ashleigh, you're doing great with the blog! What I recommend is that you assign blog categories to all of your posts. You can start with the eight I've suggested above, but of course you'll want to make sure these are aligned with the branding strategy you've identified for your company.

Yes, it will take you an hour or two to go back through your mountain of content, but consider the benefits:

  • Your visitors will be able to quickly find relevant content, whether they're fellow translators, potential clients or just curious about the topic
  • You can focus on creating a balance of posts in all categories, which will help with your content strategy and planning
  • You can look back at which categories/posts have gotten the most response, and write similar posts

If you're interesting in automating a newsletter, I believe you can create category-specific RSS feeds in WordPress. Then you could set up automatic RSS-to-email newsletters (see this post for links and more details) where each type of reader can receive the exact content they're interested in.

So keep doing what you're doing, and aim for balance so that each of your audience groups can consistently return and find new relevant and valuable content.

Would you like me to come up with some weekly blog post ideas for your business?

Click here to apply now.

Weekly Blog Posts I’d Like to See from WriteaBio.com

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Barbra asked for blog topic ideas for WriteaBio.com, saying, "It's not currently a blog but I want to add a blog component. My audience is anyone who needs to write a bio, which ranges from executives to tradespeople."

IStock_hiring When I visited Barbra's site, I saw that it was indeed geared to people in a WIDE variety of industries. What do they all have in common? They're looking for a job, or some sort of career change.

And so a valuable topic for a monthly feature article might be job interview/meeting tips, e.g., confident communication strategies, the importance of non-verbal cues, preparing for your interview, or even hints about clothing and make-up/accessories.

Of course there's already been lots written about this topic, so be sure to put a creative slant on your posts. Try something like, "How job interviews are like ________," or "What _________ can teach you about job interviews."

In between those monthly feature articles, I'd suggest playing off the main topic with industry-specific suggestions that help people make the best impression in their particular field or industry.

And how about some case study examples from your customers? You already have some wonderful testimonials on the site – can you approach some of those people to do a more in-depth interview with you? Photos would also enrich these stories – especially if you can capture people "in action" at work.

For more connective content, you could also be combing newspapers and blogs for interesting stories about job interviews and career success stories, and playing off those from your own perspective and experience as a career coach.

Now that was a challenge – blog topic ideas for a site that doesn't have a blog yet! Thanks for playing along, Barbra – I can't wait to see what you do with them.

Do you need some ideas for YOUR weekly blog posts? You can submit your blog for consideration and I will write a post just like this one – but it will be about YOU, YOUR business and YOUR prospective clients.

Click here to apply now.